Collagen-boosting foods and 3 easy recipes

Your body makes its own collagen every day, and it needs raw materials to do it: protein, vitamin C, zinc and copper. A good diet supplies those. What a diet can't do is deliver a measured dose of collagen peptides, which is what the skin and joint trials used. So this is 2 things in 1: the foods that support your own collagen production, and 3 easy recipes that fit a scoop of collagen into a normal South African day.

What your body needs to make collagen

Collagen is built from amino acids, mainly glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. To join them into a stable fibre, the enzymes involved need vitamin C as a co-factor. Without it, collagen is made but it's unstable, which is why vitamin C deficiency shows up first as fragile skin and slow wound healing. Zinc and copper are co-factors too, and you need enough total protein to supply the amino acids in the first place.

None of this means more vitamin C makes more collagen. Once you're getting enough, extra doesn't add anything. It means a diet short on these nutrients will hold your collagen production back.

The foods, in one table

If you eat a varied diet with fruit, vegetables and a protein at most meals, you're covered. Where a collagen powder adds something is the measured dose: the skin trials used 2.5g a day of specific collagen peptides for 8 weeks, and the joint trials 5g to 10g. You can't measure that out of a chicken.

Recipe 1: morning collagen smoothie

Vitamin C, protein and a measured scoop in one glass. Serves 1.

Ingredients

• 1 naartjie or small orange, peeled, or 100g strawberries
• ½ avocado
• 1 handful (about 30g) spinach
• 15ml (1 tablespoon) chia seeds
• 250ml milk, or unsweetened almond or oat milk
• 10g collagen powder (1 heaped tablespoon)
• Ice, optional

Method

1. Put everything in a blender.
2. Blend until smooth. Add a splash more milk if it's too thick.
3. Drink straight away.

Hydrolysed collagen dissolves clear and tastes of nothing, so it disappears into the smoothie. If you'd rather, stir the same 10g into your morning coffee instead; heat doesn't affect it.

Recipe 2: slow-cooker bone broth

Bone broth is the traditional collagen food. Simmering bones for hours pulls gelatin (cooked collagen) into the water, which is why a good broth sets like jelly in the fridge. The amount of collagen varies a lot with the bones, the cooking time and the water, so treat it as a nourishing base, not a dose. Makes about 2 litres.

Ingredients

• 1kg beef marrow or knuckle bones, or 1 chicken carcass plus 4 chicken feet
• 30ml (2 tablespoons) apple cider vinegar
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 5ml (1 teaspoon) salt
• 2 bay leaves
• About 2.5 litres water, enough to cover

Method

1. For beef bones, roast at 200°C for 30 minutes first. It makes a big difference to the flavour.
2. Put everything in a slow cooker or large pot and cover with water.
3. Bring to a simmer, then cook on low for 12 to 24 hours (beef) or 6 to 12 hours (chicken). Top up with water if needed.
4. Strain, cool, and skim the fat if you like. Keeps 5 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen.
5. Drink a mug with salt and pepper, or use it as the base for soup, stew or rice.

To make a measured collagen dose of it, stir 10g of collagen powder into each mug before drinking.

Recipe 3: no-bake collagen energy bites

A fridge snack that carries zinc, copper and protein. Makes about 16.

Ingredients

• 100g rolled oats
• 60g desiccated coconut
• 60g peanut butter or almond butter
• 45ml (3 tablespoons) honey
• 30g pumpkin seeds
• 20g collagen powder
• 2.5ml (½ teaspoon) cinnamon
• 30ml to 45ml (2 to 3 tablespoons) water, to bind

Method

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the nut butter and honey and work it through with your hands.
3. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture holds together.
4. Roll into walnut-sized balls and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.

2 bites give you about 2.5g of collagen, the skin-trial dose.

What protects the collagen you already have

Making collagen is half the picture. Losing it faster than you make it is the other half, and the big drivers are well established:

• Sun. UV exposure is the biggest avoidable cause of collagen breakdown in skin. Sunscreen every day in the South African sun does more for your collagen than any recipe.
• Smoking. Smokers have lower vitamin C levels and slower collagen formation; both improve after stopping.
• Sleep and exercise. Resistance training in particular is linked with better connective-tissue turnover, and recovery happens while you sleep.
• Sugar. High-sugar diets promote glycation, which stiffens collagen fibres. Cutting back helps.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get enough collagen from food alone?
You can get the raw materials from food, and that's what matters for your own production. What you can't get from food is a measured daily dose of collagen peptides. Whether you need that depends on your goal; the evidence is summarised in Collagen benefits: what the evidence actually shows.

Does cooking destroy collagen powder?
No. Hydrolysed collagen is already heat-processed. Coffee, soup, baking and broth are all fine.

Is bone broth as good as collagen powder?
It's a good food, but the collagen content is unmeasured and variable. Powder gives you a known dose. Many people do both.

Vegan options?
No plant contains collagen. A vegan diet can supply all the raw materials above; what it can't supply is collagen peptides. More in Does vegan collagen work?

The studies

• Pullar JM, Carr AC, Vissers MCM (2017). The roles of vitamin C in skin health. Nutrients 9(8):866. Read it free →
• Proksch E, Zdzieblik D, Oesser S (2025). Bovine collagen peptides, dermal matrix synthesis and clinical skin parameters. Cosmetics 12:79. Read it free →
• Zdzieblik D et al. (2017). Improvement of activity-related knee joint discomfort following supplementation of specific collagen peptides. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 42:588–595. View →

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication, speak to your doctor before changing your diet or taking a supplement.

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